No, Recruiting Is Not Dead

I'm a little surprised at the lack of convo about recruiting right now.

While I've spent the majority of my career as a generalist, I've always realized that the recruiting function can make or break me.
Most of my career has been directed toward fixing HR departments. And,
in my experience, I've found there is a correlation between broken HR
departments and broken recruiting functions. Example - if the
recruiting function isn't working as it should, managers complain that
HR isn't (a) finding people fast enough or (b) sourcing qualified
candidates. Then they add, if HR would get their recruiting act
together, the operation could deliver (a) good service and (b) on time.

Even though we're currently experiencing job losses...there
still needs to be conversation about recruiting. I know, I know...your
company isn't hiring right now. So what? Just because you're not
hiring doesn't mean that you should forget about the fact that, at some
point, you will be hiring.

So just as your company is working hard right now to increase profits, the person responsible for recruiting should be:

Thinking about the next big thing your company is working on.

Assessing if your current employees are able to deliver that new product or service.

Determining the competencies your future employees need.

Building the structure to find those individuals

There are a lot of talented people in the job market right now...as you're working through your plans for 2009...are you losing sight of your people strategy?